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 A little over a year ago I played through the original Dark Cloud (and got pretty burned out at the end of it). So now it’s about time to check out the much more enjoyable sequel: Dark Cloud 2/Dark Chronicles (depending on whether or not you live in Europe or not) About the Game This is as good a sequel as it gets: You have mostly the same mechanics that were used in the original game but this time around they’re sooooo much better now. I could go in detail over here but it’s a lot easier to just say that most of the tedium was removed by simply optimizing and streamlining old systems. Because of that as well as the removal of some very unfun features (weapons breaking and thirst for example) Dark Cloud 2 is a lot more accessible for newer players (and a lot more fun for old fans IMO) But of course that’s not all: There’s also a ton new gameplay features added into the game. To name a few: Fish racing, fish breeding, dungeon golfing, recruiting NPCs, crafting and a bunch of other ones. So this time around you actually have a lot to do besides going through the dungeons (it also helps that this game has an actual story, unlike its prequel) About the LP As you can see this game is drowning in content. While most of it is a lot of fun, 100%-ing it takes upwards of 100 hours (from what I’ve heard)….. so yeah … we’re not going to do that. We’ll dabble around with all of the mechanics, but I’ll primarily focus on dungeoneering and maxing out those sweet weapons. I’ll also go for all the pictures and inventions and I'll probably get all the monster medals in the game but that’s pretty much it as far as 100% goes. (so there won’t be a lot of fishing, golfing and dungeon medal collecting) That should still cover the majority of the game without (hopefully) completely burning me out on it. Spoiler Policy This game has an actual story, unlike the first game. Turns out this story also has a crap ton of plot twists and other funky stuff going on. Because of that please refrain from spoiling upcoming parts of the story. Thanks! Episodes             
Apepresident fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Jul 4, 2016 |
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May 28, 2016 22:06
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Reserved for future use .... maybe
Apepresident fucked around with this message at 19:48 on May 30, 2016 |
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May 28, 2016 22:06
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I got hooked hard into Dark Cloud 1 and REALLY wanted to play the second game...too bad by the time I finished the game was nowhere to be loving seen in stores and I didn't understand the concept of Game Stop or Game Crazy at that point in time.  looking forward to seeing this game for the first time and to get on the ground floor of this. I'd get it now, but A. I have too many loving games on my plate as is, B. The game's crazy expensive these days (I'm not paying 30+$ for a used PS2 game) and C. I don't have my PS2 anymore.
Kemix fucked around with this message at 23:16 on May 28, 2016 |
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May 28, 2016 23:12
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Kemix posted:I got hooked hard into Dark Cloud 1 and REALLY wanted to play the second game...too bad by the time I finished the game was nowhere to be loving seen in stores and I didn't understand the concept of Game Stop or Game Crazy at that point in time.
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May 29, 2016 00:48
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Nihilarian posted:If you have a ps4 it's on there for 15$ Yea, I only have a PS3 and a Vita, so that's not in the cards for me any time soon.
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May 29, 2016 00:58
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"Dark Chronicle" is the original name of the game. The North American version is the only one that's called "Dark Cloud 2". I don't know why either, though - SCEA work in mysterious ways.
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May 29, 2016 02:35
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I actually played this before Dark Cloud 1, and loved it. It's incredibly time consuming, however, and far too monotonous for me to ever get into again.
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May 29, 2016 05:41
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The first time I rented this game I ran into a bug that would keep locking up the game early in chapter 1. I had no idea how to get around it until much later.`
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May 29, 2016 05:53
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FractalSandwich posted:"Dark Chronicle" is the original name of the game. The North American version is the only one that's called "Dark Cloud 2". I don't know why either, though - SCEA work in mysterious ways. Huh, that's interesting. Thought "Dark Cloud 2" would be the original name since it's supposed to be a sequel. Then again in terms of story they don't have too much in common so I can also understand why they changed the name. ZZT the Fifth posted:The first time I rented this game I ran into a bug that would keep locking up the game early in chapter 1. I had no idea how to get around it until much later.` Funnily enough, the game is kinda notorious for not working. Never heard about it happening so early though, normally people just have trouble getting into the "bonus chapter" of the game.
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May 29, 2016 11:06
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Ah, Level-5 before the fall. This should be good to see.
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May 29, 2016 11:41
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Did you give up on doing the bonus dungeon in the first game?
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May 29, 2016 14:25
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The elephant did a Sphere Shot/Jecht Shot combo  That was unexpected.
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May 29, 2016 17:08
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Apepresident posted:Funnily enough, the game is kinda notorious for not working. I just looked it up to refresh my memory, and yeah, it's a replicate-able bug. If you return to the little hub immediately after clearing Stage 2, but before clearing Stage 3 in the dungeon we're about to do, the game will lock up on the loading screen when you try to enter Stage 3. The only way to get around it if you've returned to the hub is to clear Stage 2 again and then immediately go to Stage 3 from there. ZZT the Fifth fucked around with this message at 17:34 on May 29, 2016 |
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May 29, 2016 17:31
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nine-gear crow posted:Ah, Level-5 before the fall. This should be good to see. You take that back. I played 90 hours of Fantasy Life on the 3ds. 
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May 29, 2016 19:14
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This game came out a year after FFX, so I'm pretty sure the Jecht Shot is an intentional reference.
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May 29, 2016 21:29
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Scalding Coffee posted:http://forums.somethingawful.com/usercp.php I wanted to do those 100 floors, but I just couldn't do it. Sorry! Apepresident fucked around with this message at 19:55 on May 30, 2016 |
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May 30, 2016 10:44
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Update New episode out now! That final chase sequence took quite a while. But since that is now finally over, how about we check out our first dungeon: The underground channel. ZZT the Fifth posted:I just looked it up to refresh my memory, and yeah, it's a replicate-able bug. So this is pretty much the reverse version of the "you're not allowed to play through chapter 8"-bug. That one will get you stuck after the final cutscene of chapter 7 IIRC. Makes me think that the cutscenes are causing all that trouble somehow.
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May 30, 2016 20:02
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Where is the militia when all this going on? Clowns running amok, children with guns and a sewer full of man eating monsters.
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May 30, 2016 23:11
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Apepresident posted:Update I had a similar issue, but it was near the conclusion of Chapter 3. I ended up buying a used copy and swapping between the discs as necessary to get around lockups.
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May 31, 2016 02:37
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Poil posted:Where is the militia when all this going on? Clowns running amok, children with guns and a sewer full of man eating monsters. Fun Fact: Palm Brink actually has a reasonably sized police force, but none of them is doing jack poo poo while all of this going on. Guess they're all busy munching down those donuts. On the bright side: The civilian district is currently closed off. Don't know how that's supposed to stop the clown robot thingy, but it's atleast something. Neurion posted:I had a similar issue, but it was near the conclusion of Chapter 3. I ended up buying a used copy and swapping between the discs as necessary to get around lockups. I'm starting to get this feeling that all of these bugs are actually an ingenious method to sell more games. You get hooked on your first Disk and if you want to see the entire thing you need to get another one .....
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May 31, 2016 10:28
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Update New episode out now! We're halfway through the first dungeon so it's time to meet our special guest: The Backflipping Elephant Linda. She's not nearly as exciting as she was back at the circus but she's still too strong for us. So let's screw fighting for a little bit to spend some time doing things that actually matter: Taking pictures and inventing things with those picutres. SCIENCE, B*TCH!
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Jun 1, 2016 23:34
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Col. Campbell riding Steve...I can't believe I didn't recognize that voice sooner.
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Jun 2, 2016 03:06
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Update New episode out now! Time to get rid of the clowns that are rampaging through the streets of Palm Brinks so we can finally get out of here. Once that's done we get a lot of explanations. Long story short: Time Travel, Ahoy!
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Jun 3, 2016 23:25
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Lookin' good, Flotsam.
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Jun 4, 2016 14:27
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I must have played this game 8+ times. Together with Kingdom Hearts, this is my favorite PS 2 game. When it comes to weapons, I actually ended up ditching most of the synth weapon to weapon method. I managed to cut out a lot of hours of playtime that way and still ended up with great weapons. I did not abandon that strategy entirely, just mostly. nine-gear crow posted:Ah, Level-5 before the fall. This should be good to see.
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Jun 5, 2016 09:27
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I really have to question the threat a master villain poses if he selects an incompetent and completely bonkers clown as a henchman.
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Jun 5, 2016 19:36
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Update New episode out now! Time for Chapter 2! This one is weird ... like really, reaaallly weird. We basically have "snow white and the seven dwarfs" situation going on. But since that's not enough how about we throw in a speaking Orang Utang and a gigantic fancy fish. .... I'm not sure how I should feel about this ..... Poil posted:I really have to question the threat a master villain poses if he selects an incompetent and completely bonkers clown as a henchman. I'm guessing he killed most people back in his time and when it was the clowns turn to go "bye, bye" the big baddy realized he needed a henchman. So yeah, the clown had to do the job, 'cause nobody else could. Crystalgate posted:I must have played this game 8+ times. Together with Kingdom Hearts, this is my favorite PS 2 game. It does help a lot but since Dark Cloud isn't known for it's difficulty you can do pretty well without grinding out max stats/abilities on all your weapons. Then again it is kinda fun running through the dungeon floors and just 1 hitting everything
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Jun 6, 2016 22:07
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The time travel in this story is very weird and doesn't make much sense in general, but I do like that Time Gates only work in intervals of 100 years. It's a convenient way around the "why don't they just go back a bit further and stop the villain from loving everything up in the first place" thing. I also like that Monica apparently didn't give a poo poo about going back in time 100 years with no clear plan and no immediate way of getting back. She's pretty hardcore.
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Jun 6, 2016 23:33
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While that's not the weirdest fish related thing from Japan I've seen since I've watched Slayers...Apepresident posted:.... I'm not sure how I should feel about this .....
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Jun 6, 2016 23:36
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"Grape juice" is just G-rated wine, isn't it
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Jun 7, 2016 05:54
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ThornBrain posted:"Grape juice" is just G-rated wine, isn't it Considering a lot of wines are basically fermented juice with alcohol in the mix, pretty much.
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Jun 7, 2016 06:28
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So, did I just miss it or didn't you actually take a picture of the "Holy One"?
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Jun 7, 2016 13:27
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Apepresident posted:It does help a lot but since Dark Cloud isn't known for it's difficulty you can do pretty well without grinding out max stats/abilities on all your weapons. Anyway, my strategy for Eric is to bring him along, use up his ability and then replace him. I tend to do the same for other item creation characters.
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Jun 7, 2016 17:44
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Nuramor posted:So, did I just miss it or didn't you actually take a picture of the "Holy One"? Jesus you just scared me! No, I got the picture, but that entire scene is super short so it's very easy to miss. Poil posted:While that's not the weirdest fish related thing from Japan I've seen since I've watched Slayers... This, is Art!  Crystalgate posted:Anyway, my strategy for Eric is to bring him along, use up his ability and then replace him. I tend to do the same for other item creation characters. Now I'm curious: How useful are thos guys? I generally never use them (except that one floor) since I prefer the bonus weapon points and the extra money. Then again you could probably abuse them to make some extra cash with their items especially if you use up all their abilities before you actually go into the dungeon.
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Jun 8, 2016 12:29
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This is tied for my favorite JRPG with Skies of Arcadia. The best characters to take along are the ones who give you the extra synth weapons for the weapon type you plan to use on the particular map. The Item Creation dudes are good because you can pick them up, use them up, and then use the dude you actually want until they fill up again. Whenever I go back to the train I stop by and grab whatever they have that I can use. Senerio fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 8, 2016 13:29
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Apepresident posted:Now I'm curious: How useful are thos guys? I generally never use them (except that one floor) since I prefer the bonus weapon points and the extra money.
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Jun 8, 2016 17:47
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Update New episode out now! With all of that dungeoneering out of the way it's time to rebuild the town of Sindain. Sadly, this time around the Geostones don't contain any actual people so we need to repopulate the world by other means ..... Crystalgate posted:I do exactly that. I don't bring them into a dungeon. I put Eric into the party, use up his abilities and then immediately replace him with a weapon bonus character. It sounds like an easy way to get some extra items/money. If I ever manage to overcome my laziness of micromanaging those support characters to its fullest potential I'm going to try it out. Thanks for the suggestion! Senerio posted:Spoiler Talk I probably won't do it to its fullest potential (because ranged weapons need waaay too much ABS to level up IMO) but it should be enough to catch up to all the other upgrades we got at that point.
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Jun 10, 2016 00:12
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That town building crap would drive me insane. I would be annoyed that every little thing wasn't perfect and symmetrical.
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Jun 10, 2016 04:04
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Last time I played, I cheated that weapon's and the other bullshit mechanic's ABS drops to max out as soon as I get them because they're seriously screwed over in that.
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Jun 10, 2016 04:58
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"Polyn", or as it's more commonly known in English, "memory". The photo album has a practical use in transferring photos between save files. You can use it to fill in Ideas and Scoops that you permanently missed, or send ones from the late game back to an earlier save for crafting (though you'll still be gated by the materials you need).
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Jun 10, 2016 06:34
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